President Trump's popularity is 'sinking like a rock,' new poll shows
The latest Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday revealed Americans have a pretty bleak impression of their new commander-in-chief. President Trump earned his lowest net approval rating since he took office, with just 38 percent approving of the job he's done so far and 55 percent of Americans disapproving.
Americans didn't rate Trump's "personal qualities" much better:
- 55 percent said Trump "is not honest."
- 55 percent said he lacks "good leadership skills."
- 63 percent said he "is not level-headed."
- 60 percent said he "does not share their values."
In what might be the biggest blow to Trump, the poll also found that Americans trust the media — which Trump recently declared the "enemy of the American people" — more than they trust Trump to tell "the truth about the important issues."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
All in all, Quinnipiac University Poll assistant director Tim Malloy deemed this a "terrible survey one month in." "President Donald Trump's popularity is sinking like a rock," Malloy said in a press release. "He gets slammed on honesty, empathy, level-headedness, and the ability to unite. And two of his strong points, leadership and intelligence, are sinking to new lows."
The poll was conducted by telephone from Feb. 16-21 among 1,323 registered voters. The margin of error among registered voters is plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Inside a Black community’s fight against Elon Musk’s supercomputerUnder the radar Pollution from Colossal looms over a small Southern town, potentially exacerbating health concerns
-
Codeword: December 4, 2025The daily codeword puzzle from The Week
-
Sudoku hard: December 4, 2025The daily hard sudoku puzzle from The Week
-
GOP wins tight House race in red Tennessee districtSpeed Read Republicans maintained their advantage in the House
-
Trump targets ‘garbage’ Somalis ahead of ICE raidsSpeed Read The Department of Homeland Security will launch an immigration operation targeting Somali immigrants in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area
-
Hegseth blames ‘fog of war’ for potential war crimespeed read ‘I did not personally see survivors,’ Hegseth said at a Cabinet meeting
-
Canada joins EU’s $170B SAFE defense fundspeed read This makes it the first non-European Union country in the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative
-
Appeals court disqualifies US Attorney Alina HabbaSpeed Read The former personal attorney to President Donald Trump has been unlawfully serving as US attorney for New Jersey, the ruling says
-
White House says admiral ordered potential war crimeSpeed Read The Trump administration claims Navy Vice Adm. Frank ‘Mitch’ Bradley ordered a follow-up strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat, not Pete Hegseth
-
Honduras votes amid Trump push, pardon vowspeed read President Trump said he will pardon former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who is serving 45 years for drug trafficking
-
Congress seeks answers in ‘kill everybody’ strike reportSpeed Read Lawmakers suggest the Trump administration’s follow-up boat strike may be a war crime